On the day of the parent-teacher eting, Lin Yun noticed Xia Liang standing alone under the library porch.
This was purely coincidental.
If he hadn't been thinking about his daughter's studies after the eting, he wouldn't have noticed Xia Liang standing there alone, wearing a completely different expression than usual.
It was that scene that made him decide that he must find a ti to get to know Xia Liang better.
After all, he had only known Xia Liang for a month as Cui Que, and he vaguely sensed that there was sothing strange about this child.
Her subtle attitude when they first t on the Electronics Street; her personality, which was completely different from what Lin Xiaolu had described; her hesitation when she ntioned running away from ho; and the lonely expression she showed at the parent-teacher eting... all these behaviors seed to indicate one fact: Xia Liang's relationship with her family was not optimistic.
That's why today, using the excuse of the study group, Cui Que decided to visit Xia Liang's ho.
Xia Liang's ho was also in the Sunset District, in an old residential area on the edge of the Third Ring Road. It was said to have been built more than twenty years ago.
Since Xia Liang didn't like flying, Cui Que didn't ask and silently followed her. The two entered the residential area through the main gate and after a turn, they could see rows of six-story residential buildings.
The distance between the buildings was not small, and the housing structure was old. It seed suitable for installing external elevators on the outside of the buildings, making maintenance more convenient.
Looking at the rows of buildings, Cui Que couldn't help but have so random thoughts, but she imdiately shook her head and pushed these thoughts out of her mind.
Walking into one of the residential buildings, the two quickly arrived at Xia Liang's ho.
"Please co in."
Xia Liang opened the door, turned on the light switch in the entrance hall, and gestured to Cui Que, "No one wears these slippers at the entrance, just pick one."
Cui Que looked down at the ground and indeed saw several pairs of slippers neatly arranged at the entrance, just as Xia Liang had said.
Is there no one at ho?
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from ".
This scene made her suspicious, but she still didn't say anything, just nodded at Xia Liang.
After changing their shoes and entering the living room, the full view of the house ca into view: the interior space was not large, although it was a common three-bedroom, one-living room layout, the total area was relatively small. The decoration and furniture in the house were a bit old, but it was very clean and the objects were neatly arranged, giving it a simple and warm feeling.
The only strange thing was that, perhaps due to living habits, Cui Que hardly saw any household appliances in this house.
Not to ntion the lack of white appliances, there was no TV in the living room. There was a TV cabinet in front of the sofa facing the wall, but there was only a vase on the cabinet.
In addition, this layout made the house lack vitality, or rather, there was no sense of life.
Without any sound, the whole house was quiet, with only the faint buzzing of the ceiling light in the living room.
"Do you want tea?" Xia Liang asked with a smile, walking to the tea counter in the dining room.
"No, thank you." Cui Que continued to look around, responding absentmindedly.
"Then are you planning to rest directly since you're tired?"
Xia Liang blinked and said, "Don't you need to take a bath before resting? It might take so ti to heat the water."
"It's not that urgent..." Cui Que seed distracted.
"If you want to sleep, where do you want to sleep?"
Before she could finish her sentence, Xia Liang interrupted her, "There's a spare room, the bedding inside has been changed, but if you want to sleep with , that's fine too."
"I'm more used to sleeping alone."
"Huh? Since you're here, why not sleep together? I actually want to sleep with you, Little Senior."
"No need to bother, I'm just staying for one night."
"Then should I prepare the bed in the single room first?"
"No need for that either."
"Ah, then why don't you sit down first?"
"...Xiao Jin."
Interrupting Xia Liang's rapid-fire questions, Cui Que looked at her calmly and asked straightforwardly, "Are there no other people in your house?"
With just one sentence, Xia Liang fell into silence.
Rather, the reason why she kept asking questions earlier and even tried to change the subject by interrupting Cui Que was a form of escape. She had already guessed what questions Cui Que might ask next, but she kept avoiding them and didn't want to ntion them.
Xia Liang's smile on her face didn't change, but it beca less natural. After a long silence, as if resigned, this business-like smile finally collapsed and turned into helplessness, "They're not here."
"Not here ans..." Cui Que couldn't help but frown.
"Not here ans they're not here, they're not in this house, and they won't co back in the future." Xia Liang said lightly.
She looked at Cui Que with a complicated expression, and Cui Que also looked at her silently. The buzzing sound of the ceiling light above their heads continued, making it a bit annoying.
"Hoo..."Before long, Xia Liang averted her gaze and sat down on the sofa, letting out a sigh as if she had just put down a heavy burden. She asked, "Little senior, you ca here to confirm this, didn't you?"
"Yes." Still chewing on the aning of the word "absent", Cui Que answered without hesitation.
"Why did you notice?" Xia Liang turned her face to look at her, "Is it because of the conversation we had in Little Lu's living room before?"
"Not entirely."
Cui Que also walked to the edge of the living room sofa and sat down along the armrest, "More than that conversation, the main reason is that you seem very lonely."
"Lonely?"
Touching her own cheek, Xia Liang first appeared a bit dazed, then showed a self-mocking bitter smile, "Why would it be loneliness... Is it really that obvious?"
"Just consider it as an adult's intuition."
Cui Que lowered her eyes and brushed off the topic, "After all, we are now companions, so I feel I should get to know you better. As long as you don't feel offended, it's fine."
Xia Liang was undoubtedly a mber of the Magical Girl Squad of Fangting City. In theory, everyone should let their guard down and beco more united. However, Lin Xiaolu harbored unilateral hostility towards Xia Liang, which hindered any progress in their relationship.
Cui Que initially thought that as an older generation, it would be best to let the children solve these emotional issues themselves. But seeing the situation gradually worsening, it was not wise to continue to ignore it, so she had to step in.
Now that she had chosen to act, she needed to delve deeper to understand the real answer.
"…Little senior, that's a cunning way to put it."
Hearing Cui Que's explanation, the smile on Xia Liang's face beca a bit more bitter, "If you put it that way, I have no choice but to answer, right?"
She leaned against the sofa, her expression blank, then closed her eyes, "But, I also think that both little senior and Little Lu are trustworthy people. I shouldn't keep this kind of thing to myself."
"In that case, don't take it too seriously. Consider it as a pasti, and listen to my story."
Her tone softened, and she spoke with a hint of nostalgia, "This is indeed my ho, and it was once the place where our family of three lived. But now, only I am left here."
"My father is dead." Xia Liang slowly raised her head, "My mother is in prison."
Her words made Cui Que's eyes widen.
The fluorescent light overhead was still bright, but at that mont, even the annoying hum of electricity briefly disappeared.
After another pause, Xia Liang turned her head to look at Cui Que, her voice hoarse, "The reason is, she killed my father."
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